The Photo Exhibition of the Arctic Photographs
was opened in the town of Kaluga.

On October 20, 2003 Mr. Anatoly Artamonov, a Governor of the Kaluzhskaya oblast, opened the Photo Exhibition in Kaluga, and Dmitry Shparo dedicated to the Arctic expeditions, organized by the Adventure Club.

The main part of the exposition narrates about the ascent of the team of Matvey Shparo to the summit of Mt. McKinley (6194 m). This unique ascent was made in May-June, 2002. The highest peak of the North America was conquered by the team of mountaineers, which included two mobility impaired persons with spinal cord injury, who use wheel chairs in everyday life. Among participants of the team was Boris Smolin, a citizen of the town of Obninsk, Kaluzhskaia oblast. The photographs were made by Vladimir Velengurin and the participants of the expedition.

A large part of the exhibition is dedicated to a ski crossing of Greenland, carried out by Matvey Shparo, Boris Smolin and Igor Kuznetsov in summer 2002. Igor Kuznetsov, a disabled participant (spinal cord injury) travelled along the whole route (630 km of ice desert) in a special wheel chair, adjusted to skis. The photographs, made by Sergey Metelitsa, give a vivid overview of hardships of the expedition and mysterious nature of Greenland.

One more section of the Photo Exhibition is dedicated to the exploration of the burial place of Vasily and Tatiana Pronchishchev, polar pioneer explorers, the participants of the Great Northern Expedition of Vitus Bering. This exploration resulted in the reconstruction of the true lifetime images of the explorers.

Vasily Vasiljevich Pronchishchev is a native of the Kaluga region. Last year one of the streets in the town of Kaluga was named in honor of Vasily Pronchishchev.

One part of the expedition returns a spectator to the past. The polar expedition of the newspaper "Komsomolskaia Pravda" existed from 1970 till 1989. Dr. Dmitry Shparo was its permanent leader. In 1979 the team of the expedition for the first time in history of polar explorations reached by ski the North Pole. In 1998 Dmitry and Matvey Shparo made a ski crossing of the Bering Strait. For the first time a ski-track connected Chukotka and Alaska, Asia and America. This unprecedented achievement was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The "Italian Chukotka", a Photo Exhibition.

On March 15, 2003 there was held an Opening Ceremony of the Photo Exhibition "Italian Chukotka" of Stefania Zini. The photo Exhibition was demonstrated at the Exhibition Halls of the Pushkin's Museum at the Old Arbat.

The Exhibition consisted of the photographs, which were made during the two expeditions of Stefania Zini to Chukotka: a round the world vehicle expedition in ZIL trucks (winter 2000), the co-organizers: the Adventure Club and the ZIL automobile plant, and a special photo expedition to Chukotka in summer 2002.

For more than three centuries and a half Chukotka has been a part of Russia, but today it still remains absolutely unknown to the Europeans, as it was three centuries ago, though its area is larger than the area of any of the European State.

Even nowadays it is difficult to arrive here. Almost half of the territory of the Chukotsky Autonomous okrug is situated in the Eastern Hemisphere. Evidently due to this fact the nature here has preserved its primeval look: the water in the springs is quite pure, berries and mushrooms are edible, birds and animals are not afraid of people.

But people of Chukotka are the main charm. Despite their nationality they all are very hospitable, friendly and are eager to help.

The Photo Exhibition "Victory on McKinley"
was demonstrated in the town of Kursk.

The Photo Exhibition "Victory on McKinley", dedicated to the ascent of the team of Matvey Shparo to Mt. McKinley, 6194 m, the highest point of the North America, was demonstrated in the town of Kursk in January, 2003.

The Exhibition, which was before successfully demonstrated in Moscow and Ufa, Bashkortostan, was dedicated to the unprecedented event – the first in history ascent of the Russian team, including two mobility impaired participants with spinal cord injury (who use wheel chairs in everyday life) to the altitude, exceeding 6000 metres.

The ascent took place in May-June 2002. This achievement had proved that able bodied and disabled people could work together in one team, once more demonstrated unlimited potential and inner strength of people with limited abilities. The team was officially congratulated on its victory by V. Putin, President of Russia, Yu. Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow and A. Mikhailov, Governor of the Kurskaia oblast.

The photographs of Vladimir Velengurin ("Komsomolskaia Pravda") and the members of the team presented a vivid picture of this unique ascent.

Photo Exhibition "Victory on Mt. McKinley"
at the Novy Manezh.

The photo Exhibition "Victory on Mt. McKinley" was demonstrated in November 2002 at the Moscow State Exhibition Hall "Novy Manezh" (Georgievsky lane, h.3/3).

The exhibition narrated about the ascent of the team of Matvey Shparo to Mt. McKinley, 6194 m, the highest summit of the North America. For the first time in history the Russian team, including two mobility impaired participants with spinal cord injury, who use wheel chairs in everyday life, made an ascent to 6194 m.

The ascent took place in May-June 2002. This achievement has definitely proved that able bodied and disabled participants can jointly work in one team, and once more has demonstrated the unlimited potential and inner resources of people "with limited abilities". President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, the official patron of the expedition to McKinley, congratulated courageous ascenders on their outstanding victory.

The photographs of Vladimir Velengurin, a correspondent of "Komsomolskaia Pravda" and the photographs, made by the participants of the ascent, narrate about this unique achievement.

Some part of this Photo Exhibition is dedicated to the youth ecological camp "Great Adventure", which exists for three years. Hundreds of teenagers (boys and girls) from different regions of Russia come to this Camp during summer. The Camp is situated in the picturesque area of the Republic of Karelia. The photographs, made by Oleg Karadzha, show the variety of adventurous trips for youth and everyday life in the Camp. Some photographs are made by teenagers themselves.

Photo Exhibition "Challenging Greenland"
in Volgograd.

The Photo Exhibition "Challenging Greenland" after its success at the Moscow Novy Manezh had arrived in the Volgograd town.

More than 100 photographs tell about Greenland, the largest Ice Island in the world, and about the unique crossing of a team of Russian explorers over it.

Besides the photographs, you can see the equipment of the participants: a tent, skis, sledges, a ski device, used by Igor Kuznetsov, a disabled participant of the expedition. The visitors can see the items of the every day life of the expedition. The exhibits present visual evidence of all difficulties and trials, experienced by courageous participants at the ice shield of Greenland.

At the grand ceremony in Volgograd the Governour N.Maksyuta and D.Shparo opened the Exhibition. After Volgograd the Exhibition is scheduled to go to the town of Obninsk, Kaluzhskaia region. Then it will visit Petrazavodsk and Ufa. If you are interested in organization of this Exhibition at your town, please send us the information via our e-mail.

From November 3 to November 10, 2001 the Exhibition "Challenging Greenland" was demonstrated at the Moscow Exhibition Hall Novy Manezh. The exhibition was opened by the official patron of the expedition – Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

The idea of a ski crossing across Greenland in one team with a disabled participant belongs to Matvey, a son of a famous Russian polar explorer Dmitry Shparo.

This daring and beautiful idea was aimed not only to achieve a sport record, but it also had a great social significance. Actually the challenge was not only to Greenland but also to all our society, which treats disabled people so cruelly and indifferently. The expedition should have proved that disabled people have the right to work on equal terms with able-bodied people even in the extreme conditions. For this purpose Matvey Shparo, Igor Kuznetsov (a disabled participant) and Boris Smolin passed more than 600 km in 43 days over the ice desert, struggling with the Arctic cold, hurricane wind and numerous hardships.